


Prompt #116 (Like a River Flows)

by Alex_Chesterfield



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/F, Greek Mythology - Freeform, Mythical Beings & Creatures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-18
Updated: 2017-12-18
Packaged: 2019-02-16 08:01:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13049868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alex_Chesterfield/pseuds/Alex_Chesterfield
Summary: The naiad gave her a mournful look. “I wish I could help, but I’m not anyone very important; my creek doesn’t even reach the ocean.”





	Prompt #116 (Like a River Flows)

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Writing Prompt #116](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/345462) by Prompts and Circumstance. 



The naiad gave her a mournful look. “I wish I could help, but I’m not anyone very important; my creek doesn’t even reach the ocean.”

Akilina sat down at the edge of the pitiful stream of water, an elbow propped on her knee to rest her chin in her hand. She looked up to the Naiad, which she had summoned in the hopes that the divine creature could aid her, to no avail.

“So… you cannot contact your oceanic sisters? There is no way to convince them to help me? Because when I spoke with them, they didn’t guarantee my safety, or that they’d even get my boat moving at all. They  _laughed_ at me, is what they did.”

“Honestly,” the Naiad said, tapping a finger to her chin and sending water droplets everywhere, “that’s more of Notus’s domain, if you’re wanting to go south to Egypt as you claim. I know you’re not betting on your luck in getting a hold of Poseidon, and I don’t blame you for not wanting to try. He’s not Zeus, but… well, family shares cravings…”

The both of them cringed at the thought, before the Naiad spoke again.

“But… you haven’t told me  _why_ is it that you want to go south.”

Akilina held her head high. “It has been arranged for me to be wed to a man I cannot  _stand._ Not even for the sake of family. The only solution besides killing him, would be to run away. It’s something I’ve been meaning to do for a long time now, but I won’t be able to get anywhere quick on foot. My grandmother said to me, that the best chance I’d have at getting away from tradition, would be through the sea. But… I’m too afraid to go if there’s no promise I’ll get where I’m going.”

The Naiad’s expression fell into that of pity, and she knelt down to take Akilina’s face in a watery hand.

“There is strength in facing impossible odds, but it is far more noble to tackle the issues that are within out power than to attempt a herculean feat. To sail the Mediterranean, all on your own… even  _with_ a Naiad’s aid, this does not take into account food, the size of the ship you would need to hold it all, how you will combat illness, raging storms out of our command… surely, my dear Akilina, you’ll have a better chance at finding yourself here, even if it is with a man you have no desire in.”

“ _Please,_ ” Akilina implored of her, one last time through bitten lips, “if I do not get to the sea now, I never will. To be made an honest woman of is to lose your freedom, forever. This is my  _only_ chance at finding greatness for myself. There must be  _some_ way you can help me!”

The Naiad pulled away sorrowfully, sighing steam. “I am sorry, Akilina, but as I have said before… my creek does not reach the ocean. I barely have the power to keep these few plants around me alive.”

The young woman sighed, and turned her gaze towards the distant Mediterranean. “Do you… long to go to the sea? Do you yearn to feel that salty breeze rush through you? The spray of the ocean on your face… the rock of the waves?”

“Many times, I have dreamt of it,” the Naiad said. She came to sit next to Akilina, their hands just shy of touching. “Not only would it increase my power substantially, but… the Mediterranean connects to the rest of the world’s oceans. To have my creek joined with it… so much would suddenly be open to me. I would be able to travel the whole world, just like that. I would become a part of everything. I could help so much…”

The two of them sat in contemplative silence.

“Then what if–” Akilina jumped to her feet, setting her sights on the nearby, yet so distant sea. “Then what if I moved your creek?”

“ _Moved_ my  _creek?_ ” 

“If it is a connection to the ocean that you require, both for your end and mine, then I shall dig you a path to the sea. Even if I must labor night and day without pause, without end. The both of us will get to the sea, one way or another. Even if I must dig with a spoon–”

Akilina danced around the Naiad, the mythical woman barely able to keep up with the human’s movements.

“We  _will_ reach the ocean. I know some girls that will help me, who are in a similar predicament. Perhaps we could all sail away together!”

“Akilina!” The Naiad took a desperate hold of the girl’s hands, but she continued to babble regardless.

“We could all gather food for the journey. We will steal away, in the late hours of the night, with enough food to sustain us all, and when we arrive–”

The Naiad slapped Akilina. The human blinked rapidly, dazed from the force of it, and the water that dripped down her face as a result.

“ _Akilina_ ,” she began again, pulling the girl close, so that she could hear her well. “You must make me a promise. Do you understand me? You  _must_ promise me something, and you  _cannot_ go back on your word, no matter the circumstance. This is of the utmost importance. If you fail, it is likely my creek will  _never_ reach the ocean. Do you understand?”

Dazedly, Akilina nodded. “Of course. Anything. What is it?”

The mythical being leaned in closer, until she was whispering into her ear.

“… don’t you  _dare_ use a spoon.”

 

* * *

 

Thirteen girls, in total, all banded together with stolen shovels, buckets, and some simply brought shoes, and all worked side by side to increase the length of the Naiad’s creek. All she was able to do was offer them fresh water and encouragement, but for all of the humans, the stars in her eyes, the sheer gratitude for the gravity of the task they all were undertaking… that in itself was enough thanks for it all.

By sheer luck, it seemed, the girls were not heavily interrogated about their disheveled appearances, or the scrapes in their hands. Telling their families back in the village that they had been playing in the creek was simple explanation enough. Suspicions still rose, of course, but it was too little, too late, when some were forced to stay home and continue their womanly duties.

It took just under a month for the task to be completed. Buckets and shovels were tossed aside, and as ocean met stream for the first time, the Naiad was overwhelmed by the sudden surge of energy that coursed through her cool, crisp veins.

The seven remaining girls all watched with awe as the Naiad was overcome with great power, her once short seaweed hair growing into a long, fluctuating wave of water that connected with the creek and ocean beneath her. Her height grew twice as high, a woman-like form once only five feet in height shooting to twelve, and fish from her stream and the ocean alike all danced within her, meeting for the first time.

When her transformation was complete, the Naiad settled down, close to Akilina . “Now,” she said, addressing the remaining girls, “you must hurry to prepare your vessel to sail. Gather the others who are imprisoned in their homes, and I shall escort you all safely to Egypt, to express my gratitude. What all of you have accomplished here is nothing short of a miracle, and thus, I shall supply the same service to you.”

The women all scattered off, darting back uphill excitedly, while Akilina remained behind. She remained standing next to the reformed Naiad, deep in thought.

“Dear Akilina,” the Naiad said, with a furrowed brow of stone, “your expression… you are not having second thoughts now, are you?”

“Oh, dear, no!” she exclaimed, tapping a finger to her chin. “It is simply that we have all banded together for so long, working to free you, and now that it is done… I loathe to say goodbye.”

This confession took her by surprise. She had been kind, certainly, but she did not consider her impact to be of that much importance to the runaway bride. “Dear Akilina… is this not what you have dreamt of? A new life in Egypt, where you may forge your road ahead in life as you see fit?”

“Yes, that is true,” the girl confessed, fidgeting with her clothing, “but the truth is… I do not want to be far away from the ocean. I do not want to be far away from  _you_ … and I think that the Naiad of the Nile will be loathe to share her space with you.”

“Are you saying… you wish to remain with me?”

Akilina nodded nervously. “I will sail the seas for the rest of my life if it means having your companionship. I know it sounds insane, truly, but you are… you will always be… my best friend…”

The Naiad blinked at the human, who was cowering away nervously at the creature’s silence.

“I… I do not even know your name…”

Akilina found her head being tilted back up towards the Naiad with gentle, dripping fingers. The warmth in her normally cool smile washed over Akilina like a gentle tidal wave, light and caressing.

“You may call me… Písti. I am… Faith. And should you choose to sail the seas, I will  _never_ leave your side. I am forever in your debt, Akilina.”

The human girl smiled, blinking away nervous tears, and leaned into the embrace of the newly-made ocean Naiad, a comfort in the dead of night, and a comfort in the unknown that would soon face them all.

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr: <http://chesterfield-ramblings.tumblr.com/>
> 
> Twitter: <https://twitter.com/AlexChester_X_>
> 
> Instagram: <https://www.instagram.com/alexchester_x_>


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